I'm looking into buying an SSL certificate for my domain. I'm considering buying: https://www.ssl.nu/en/products/regular+ssl/ssl+basic/ which is just a domain validation certificate I think. Will there be a 'green lock' in the addressbar when using the certificate?

could you be more specific about this 'green lock'. I think that's only in google chrome: firefox and other browsers have no 'green lock'.
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ChristofianJan 23 '12 at 22:21

@Christofian sure I could be more specific. IE (only tested in 9) also has some sort of the same feature (a lock in the addressbar). Not sure about what FF does, but I suspect it does something like that too.
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PeeHaaJan 23 '12 at 22:48

Definitively not a green bar. That's only for EV certificates.
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PeeHaaJan 24 '12 at 15:38

because OP only say simple cheap ssl, who knows the EV might become cheaper one day or even free from some issuer, lets hope so
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Eric YinJan 24 '12 at 15:42

1

who knows the EV might become cheaper one day Wishful thinking :P It's way too easy to make money this way for them :-)
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PeeHaaJan 24 '12 at 16:22

In which color the lock is displayed, and if it is displayed at all, depends entirely on the browser. The interesting part for the user is, if there is a visible difference between the certificates, and this often is displayed with the colors green or blue (the bar, yes).
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martinstoeckliJan 24 '12 at 20:25

Normally the cheaper SSL certificates don't get you a green lock/bar, instead the browser will show a blue one (Firefox will highlight the domain in this color).

They are technically the same (the connection is encrypted), but they are cheaper, because they only have to check the domain. The "green" certificates also require information about the owner and the seller sould check, if this information is correct.

In most cases the cheaper certificate is fine, the user will have no disadvantages and the "green" certificates are really (too) expensive.

When I go to the example URL with the "blue" certificate it still shows up green just like the screenshot in my question (Chrome 18).
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PeeHaaJan 24 '12 at 20:17

@PeeHaa - I cannot test it with Chrome at the moment, it's possible that you get a green bar. Every browser (and every version of browser) can decide for itself, how to display the different certificates. Firefox and IE will show the URL above as blue, but Firefox for example has no lock anymore (there was one in earlier versions though).
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martinstoeckliJan 24 '12 at 20:33

An Extended Validation Certificate (EV) is an X.509 public key
certificate issued according to a specific set of identity
verification criteria. These criteria require extensive verification
of the requesting entity's identity by the certificate authority (CA)
before a certificate is issued. Certificates issued by a CA under the
EV guidelines are not structurally different from other certificates
(and hence provide no stronger cryptography than other, cheaper
certificates)...

...all CAs globally must follow the same detailed issuance
requirements which aim to:

Establish the legal identity as well as the operational and physical presence of website owner;

Establish that the applicant is the domain name owner or has exclusive control over the domain name; and

Confirm the identity and authority of the individuals acting for the website owner, and that documents pertaining to legal
obligations are signed by an authorised officer.

The Extended Validation guidelines require participating Certificate
Authorities to assign a specific EV identifier... [if] the certificate
is verified as current, the SSL certificate receives the enhanced EV
display in the browser's user interface. In most implementations, the
enhanced display includes:

The name of the company or entity that owns the certificate.

The name of the SSL Certificate Authority (CA) that issued the EV certificate.

A distinctive color, usually green, shown in the address bar to indicate that a valid EV certificate was received.

In 2006, researchers at Stanford University and Microsoft Research
conducted a usability study of the EV display in Internet Explorer 7.
Their paper concluded that "participants who received no training in
browser security features did not notice the extended validation
indicator and did not outperform the control group", whereas
"participants who were asked to read the Internet Explorer help file
were more likely to classify both real and fake sites as legitimate".